FDI and macroeconomic volatility: A close-up on the source countries

Macroeconomic determinants of FDI are seldom analyzed from the perspective of source countries, priority being given to host country characteristics. In a gravity set-up, we show that output volatility of source country has a significant adverse impact on FDI flowing to developing economies that can offset the positive effect of domestic cycles. We also find that the standard positive FDI-effect of structural reforms such as trade openness is reduced by higher output volatility levels in host countries, and that FDI coming from non-traditional sources is less reactive to output instability and macroeconomic risk than FDI coming from traditional sources.